Theme: "Parting Company" - Characters in "Peter Pan" are split up. Circled letters spell out the author J. M. Barrie.
23A. Longtime ABC News anchor [Hero, 1]: PETER JENNINGS.
122A. One-hit wonder [Hero 2]: FLASH IN THE PAN. Peter Pan.
41A. Marvel supersoldier [Villain, 1]: CAPTAIN AMERICA.
98A. Ineffective pitcher's fate, in baseball lingo [Villain 2]: GETTING THE HOOK. Captain Hook.
82A. Kids' building materials [Sidekick 1]: TINKER TOYS.
58A. Santa signal [Sidekick 2]: SLEIGH BELL. Tinker Bell.
85A. Groups of problem-solving specialists [Princess 1]: TIGER TEAMS.
60A. Biblical bloomer [Princess 2]: EASTER LILY. Tiger Lily.
Looks like this is a Brad Wiegmann's LAT debut. Congrats!
Peter Pan & Captain Cook are split up symmetrically. Tinker Bell & Tiger Lily are not, must be the extra J. M. Barrie layer.
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| Brad Wiegmann, XWord Info image |
Across:
6. Most favorable: OPTIMAL.
13. Nuts seen in bars: CASHEWS. Often found in Kung Pao chicken. Super spicy.
20. Look forward to: AWAIT.
21. Direct approach: BEE LINE.
22. Theoretically: ON PAPER. Looks good.
25. "The Odd Couple" couple, e.g.: ROOMIES. Five girls in our
tiny one-room college dorm the last year. 7 the first year. All bunk beds of
course. No heating or air conditioner. Public restroom was at the other end of the floor. Public bathroom was at the other building. But no one was complaining then. We were too young to care.
26. Menu selections: ENTREES.
27. Old Tokyo: EDO. I think sushi was developed during Edo period.
28. Per __: ANNUM.
29. One of eight Yankee World Series victories: SWEEP. How many times were they swept in the World Series? Also 108. Yankee quipper?: BERRA.
32. P.O. box item: LTR.
34. Final Four game: SEMI.
37. "Ready Player One" hero Wade __: WATTS. Learning moment for me.
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47. Asteroids producer: ATARI.
48. Byzantine architecture features: DOMES.
49. Mardi Gras city, informally: NOLA. So sorry for your ordeals, Susan, SwampCat and Big Easy!
50. Jaye's "The Crying Game" role: DIL. Jaye Davidson played the trans woman Dil. I saw the movie ages ago.
51. Novel category: ROMANCE.
53. Third of eight: EARTH. 56. 53-Across, to Merkel: ERDE.
55. Basic bruise treatment: ICE PACK. Poor Boomer had his right
big toe caught in our carpet last Monday morning. The bandages we had
just could not stop the bleeding. But you know Boomer. Nothing could
stop him from bowling. He came back home with a bloody sock. Now he just
has a swollen toe.
62. Physical exam letters: LDL. The bad cholesterol.
63. Mystiques: AURAS.
64. Org. for netmen: ATP. Association of Tennis Professionals.
65. Had the nerve: DARED.
66. Regional flora and fauna: BIOTA.
68. Wanders about: ROVES.
71. Convenient, like some winter resorts: SKI IN. From Ski.com: "ski in ski out or slopeside access means the accommodations are situated just off the slopes.
... For example, you might have to walk to the chairlift to access the
slopes, but then you can ski back to your hotel or condo."
74. Blowup aid: TNT.
77. Courage: SPINE.
79. Sch. with the mascot SuperFrog: TCU. Here he is.
88. Film noir plot device: AMNESIA.
89. Types: MODES.
91. Attribute: ASCRIBE.
92. Robin Roberts' show, initially: GMA. Also guest-hosted "Jeopardy!"
93. Take __: snooze: A NAP.
95. Up to: UNTIL.
97. Toast starter: HERE'S.
102. Nose wrinklers: ODORS.
103. Common stained glass element: LEAD.
104. Org. concerned with flight risks: TSA.
105. "... to say the __": LEAST.
111. Old AT&T rival: GTE.
114. Economic divisions: SECTORS.
119. Lost for now: MISLAID.
125. Pip's love interest in "Great Expectations": ESTELLA.
126. Put back: RESTORE.
127. Nancy Drew series author: KEENE.
128. Rice and wheat: GRASSES. Have you tried wheatgrass juice? Barley grass is popular in Japan.
129. Invite to one's home: ASK OVER.
130. Oscar winner Redmayne: EDDIE. Quite a few names in this grid. Let's see the rest: 2. John Irving's "A Prayer for __ Meany": OWEN.
3. "The Simpsons" creator Groening: MATT. 9. Nastase of tennis: ILIE. 12. Guitarist Paul: LES. 31. Violinist __ Frank: PAMELA. 52. Former Labor secretary Elaine: CHAO. 67. Model Sastre: INES. 69. NBAer-cum-rap star: ONEAL. 71. Immortal football coach Amos Alonzo __: STAGG.
72. Last Oscars host (2018): KIMMEL. 83. "Knives Out" filmmaker Johnson: RIAN. 106. Ed with Emmys: ASNER. 119. Eldest of the "Little Women": MEG. 122. Renaissance artist __ Angelico: FRA.
Down:
1. Darth Vader accessory: CAPE.
4. Oktoberfest quaff: BIER. What kind of beer do you drink, D-Otto? Canned or bottled?
5. Freaking out: STRESSING.
6. Too big for one's own good: OBESE. You don't find this word in Don G's grids.
7. Script writer: PEN.
8. Messi's uniform number: TEN. Lionel Messi left Barcelona last month, after Rich edited this puzzle. I'm sure. Now his jersey number is 30.
10. It's often made up in advance: MIND.
11. Luanda's land: ANGOLA.
13. Food wrapped in silk: CORN.
14. Soon, to a bard: ANON.
15. Union member?: SPOUSE. Fun clue.
16. Rapper Stanley Burrell, familiarly: HAMMER. MC Hammer. U Can't Touch This.
17. Prefix with Pen: EPI.
18. Like a few hours after midnight: WEE.
19. H.S. bigwigs: SRS.
24. Yeshiva grad: JEW.
28. Florence's river: ARNO.
30. Friendly opening?: ECO. Eco-friendly.
33. Soldier's helmet: TIN HAT.
35. Place for a slam dunk: MID-AIR.
36. Result of a drip, at times: ICICLE.
37. Cola __: WARS.
38. Reef formation: ATOLL.
39. Got under control: TAMED.
40. Off-road vehicle: TRAIL BIKE.
42. Sounds of thunder: PEALS.
43. Original Dungeons & Dragons co.: TSR. Tactical Studies Rules.
44. Touched down: ALIT.
45. Nutmeg spice: MACE.
46. Synthetic resin used in paint: ALKYD. Jazzbumpa knows this.
48. Budding star's big moment: DEBUT.
54. Something for two, in song: TEA.
57. Wasted: PLASTERED.
59. Terpsichore : dance :: __ : love poetry: ERATO.
61. Julep garnish: SPRIG.
70. __ libre: poetry form: VERS. Free verse.
73. Like talent, many say: INNATE.
75. Lorelei et al.: NYMPHS.
76. Chinese culinary general: TSO. Mentioned before, I never had this in China. Chinese American food.
77. Note taker: STENO.
78. Energetic type: PISTOL.
80. Capital on the Nile: CAIRO.
81. Brown shade: UMBER.
84. Blue __: Dory's species: TANG. Dory is the Pixar fish voiced by Ellen DeGeneres.
86. Knickknack: TCHOTCHKE. What a unique word.
87. Cong. meeting: SESS. Session.
90. "Boy, am I dumb!": DUH.
94. Encouraging word?: ATTA.
96. '50s prez: IKE.
99. They may be reserved: TABLES.
100. Core values: IDEALS.
101. "Peaceful Easy Feeling" group, with "The": EAGLES.
107. Matching pair: SET. I've been helping Boomer with his eBay stuff. He mostly has "lots". "Beautiful lot of Joe Mauer cards". Always cracks me up.
109. Infuriate: RILE.
110. Old cereal box stats: RDAS. Recommended Dietary Allowances.
112. Piece of work: TASK.
113. __ perpetua: Idaho motto: ESTO. Boomer's cousin Tom Burnikel lives in Twin Falls.
115. Ready to drive: TEED.
116. Slanted page: OP-ED.
117. Hindu princess: RANI. Opposite of RAJA.
118. Old dagger: SNEE.
120. El Al's home: Abbr.: ISR.
121. Metro stop: Abbr.: STA.
123. __ lane: HOV.
124. Wrath: IRE.
C.C.
26 comments:
FIWrong. My last three entries were all WAGs, got one correct DIⓁ + AⓁKYD, and two wrong EAⓇLES + ⓇTⒶ + ⒶSTO.
As for the theme, after I finished I put the circled letters together to get J.M.BARRIE, who I recognized as the author of Peter Pan, but didn't get the rest until I remembered this was Sunday, so there was a title. Which didn't help me one bit. I did finally see the connections after much more contemplation. Still don't get the title.
In Neverland the PAIR did dwell,
PETER PAN and TINKER BELL.
Then CAPTAIN HOOK,
That pirate crook,
Stole TIGER LILY to make her tell!
The plan looked good ON PAPER,
An easy midnight caper.
But tho they DARED,
The law prepared,
They were caught, and thrown in the hopper!
{B+, B-.}
Get up early today and printed out the puzzle. No newspaper yet but about half of NOLA is without electricity. Not a snowball's chance in hell that BE would have figured out this theme.
I FIR but it took a lot of perps for the unknown proper names.
CASHEWS- expensive giveaway; usually extra salty peanut to encourage you to buy another drink.
TCHOTCHKE- thank you perps for the correct spelling
Gotta go.
Good morning!
Saw the circles strewn across the grid, but forgot to look at 'em. The theme went whooshing over my head, as usual. Along the way, I tried to make Dory a TUNA and stuck a STRAW in my mint julep. Easily fixed. CSO to our NOLA contingent, and timely mention of Ed ASNER. Finished in good time, if you can consider "finishing" as filling in all the squares with no idea of what's going on. Impressive debut, Brad. Thanx for the tour, C.C. (Did you call that college rooming arrangement a sorority?)
BIER: C.C., Definitely not a beer snob. No bottles chez d-o. I buy it in cans, usually in 30-packs. I'm a connoisseur of whatever brand's on sale.
LTR: The Amazon driver who services our area often runs late, and when they do, the package can wind up stuffed into our mailbox out on the street, or dropped at the end of our driveway. If we check delivery status on Amazon, there's no photo of the parcel -- just a fraudulent "hand-delivered to customer" statement. Haven't found any way to complain about it...except here.
FIR, UNTIL I gave it one last scan before checking. I noticed AMESIA x RIAN, and after some thought changed them to AMNESyA x RyAN. Had I been solving on line I wouldn't have gotten the chance to snatch defeat from the very jaws of victory.
Too many unknowns to list, also known as "Sunday" here in Jinxvile. Erased gears for COMBS, nba for ATP, pane for LEAD, missing for MISLAID, erete for ERATO, and claps for PEALS.
D-O: "I'm a connoisseur of whatever brand's on sale." Doesn't that make you a "connoisewer?"
Like OwenKL, I still don't understand how the title, "Parting Company," connects with the theme. I guess the theme answers are "parted," but I'm not sure I see the "company" part, except that the cast of characters are a kind of company, I guess, although I usually think of "company" in that sense either as a military division or an acting troupe.
But I really enjoyed this puzzle. I finished the puzzle with no clue as to what the theme is, and I had to spend several minutes figuring it out. At first, I thought the circled letters were a pivot around which the Hero/Villain/etc would be named. But once I figured it out and that "aha!" light went on, I was very impressed. The theme is very consistent -- the first word in the character's name is at the beginning of the answer, and the second word is at the end. And to have eight theme answers that all seem very natural (except TIGERTEAMS, which is obscure IMO), and to have JMBARRIE spelled out in the right order -- impressive construction!
Staili, I thought maybe it was ship's company that was parted...except, only Captain Hook is a separated sailor. (Reminds me of 1971, when I became a very grateful-to-be-separated sailor.)
I’m always amazed at the creativity of puzzle constructors and this one was no exception. Thanks for the challenge Brad and I hope to see more of your work! Somehow I managed to finish this, somewhat by trial and error. Didn’t have a grasp on the theme till I went through the circled letters and saw JM Barrie in order, I recognized the name but didn’t know he was the author of Peter Pan, looking over the puzzle again, nowwww it made sense! As always I learned a few things today ~~ tchotchke, can’t wait to work that into a conversation! Estella, Tang, Rian, Dil, not familiar with any of those.
After 2 WSJ puzzles and 2 NYT publications in 2021, Brad does make his way to our puzzle. Like most, I enjoyed the puzzle and the homage to an old puzle friend J. M. Barrie but the title seems too much of some inside joke in Brad's mind. 4 of his 5 published ones are 21 x 21 so that is where he apparently is comfortable, but titles...In reading I learned his title choices were changed by others editors. Perhaps he will stop by and explain his choice.
C.C., the Yankees have been swept only once in World Series (1976) though they are the winner of 8 of the 15 all time sweeps. Only the Reds have been swept more than once.
Thank you Brad and C. C.
Hi Y'all! excruciating slog, Brad. First pass thru the entire puzzle left many snowy sections that didn't melt without red-letter runs. DNK most names. I got 'er filled but...
Thank you, C.C. for your explanations. Took a long while to suss the theme even after I read what you wrote. Just could not see it. Been too long since reading or viewing that story.
Arches before DOMES.
TANG is a fish? I thought it was an orange drink developed for astronauts.
My granddaughter who lived in NOLA evacuated before the storm and ended up back in Kansas last week. She intends to go back to NOLA Tuesday they tell me. I tried to tell my daughter she should wait -- No electricity many places. They hadn't watched the news and think I'm an old worry-wort. True but looks like there is plenty to worry about down there yet.
Lemonade - Yankees were also swept in 1963 by the Dodgers, with Koufax at his very best,
Never got the theme, thought the circles were related to to parentheses in the clues. Glad for CC’s write up.
Our local Gannett apparently no longer including Parade magazine with the Sunday paper. Price hasn’t gone down.
Musings
-What a hoot!! I rambled around looking for the gimmick and TINKER and BELL jumped out at me.
-Dang! I thought I was so smart but C.C. had to tell me about JM BARRIE. How elegant!
-ON PAPER Pickett’s Charge looked good to Lee
-All teachers can recall their first PER ANNUM pay
-Sorry to hear about Boomer. I’ll bet he knows the baseball story about “the bloody sock”.
-Amnesia vs. Alzheimer’s
-ODORS – Athletes can drink a lot of Pickle Juice to alleviate cramping in this hot, humid weather
-FRA was in the Kyle Dolan puzzle I blogged yesterday.
-OP ED sometimes: “Don’t bother me with facts, I’ve got my MIND made up”
-Spelling TCHOTSKE to win a spelling bee
Haha...Didn't I write a comment a few weeks ago that I thought a clue answer was TCHOTCHKE but I had no idea how to spell it? You stole my word! :-)
My only fail was the 'G" in staGg cross gMA. Oh, Good Morning America.
I also had RYAN at first until I figured AMNESIA. RIAN?? Weird.
I had HITTING THE HEAD because of DDE instead of IKE, but that's a nautical term. Hitting the showers would be right for baseball. That had me stuck for a while until I got HOOK and IKE.
I had no clue when finished about the circled letters. Thanks for the explanation!
I got it completely correct as usual because I'm really smart. I even knew Shaq went into rap. But if I'm so smart how come I have no idea what this puzzle's about. Used to be that solving the puzzle was the game, but now that's not enough --- you have to figure out the puzzle name and then the theme. All of this is far too tough for this old man. But it was fun with some good clues on a wide variety of subjects.
I really enjoyed this puzzle, especially since Peter Pan is “my story” - my parents named me Wendy after the little girl who learned to fly with Peter. Wendybird was their nickname for me.
Thanks, Brad, for a fun challenge. I FIR, but had to use the whiteout a few times to correct SORTS/MODES, CLAPS/PEALS. Perps really helped with some of the unfamiliar names such as RIAN, INES, HAMMER, STAGG. I almost put in LINCOLNLOGS for TINKERTOYS until it wouldn’t quite fit. Lots of sparkly fill, not just a Trivia contest.
Thanks C.C. for the always interesting tour. Sorry about Boomer’s toe!
DUH, one wrong square for a FIW, but I'll accept that since it was another challenging puzzle that took several sessions to fill in. My last entry was the crossing SPINE and PISTOL. But I found reading C.C.'s review that I erred in having DOvES and PAvELA. Didn't catch that while proofreading so....
I did see the theme of circled letters spelling JM BARRIE and figured out that "Wait, there's more!" The characters' names split among the themers with the clues indicating which part to use. Some trouble getting TIGER LILY since at that time I had TowER TEAMS. Remembering TIGER LILY's name cleared up that themer. Thanks Brad for a many-layered puzzled theme and interesting fill. Look forward to more from you. Thanks C.C. for clearing up my remaining questions, ATP, for example.
Time now for a head clearing walk in the mild afternoon weather, much appreciated after our hot humid days. See you tomorrow after we Labor over the Day's puzzle.
Amazing theme construction with the JM BARRIE in the other theme answers from top to bottom!
Like Stalli and others - I don't get the "Company" part of the title though.
I had heard of Amos Alonzo STAGG - but didn't know that much about the details of his life. Impressive that even though he didn't coach in a big name college or the pros that he had so many innovations that contributed to the game of football. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amos_Alonzo_Stagg
So many English words that came from Yiddish like TCHOTCHKE, given it's meld of German, Slavic, and Hebrew origins have lots of consonants relative to the vowels!
Thanks CC and Brad for a fun afternoon!
Boomer - hope your toe mends well - keep close tabs on it since with your DM 2, wounds can be slow to heal!
Love this puzzle.
Read -through: nothing
2nd pass: west side
3rd pass: northeast
Lunch
4th pass: got ‘Er done
Thanks for setting the record straight,jfromvt, re: Teams that swept the Yankees. My family had tickets for Game Five in 1963. In Los Angeles, I had been home from school with an illness so I got to watch all the games on TV. My parents we debating whether they'd let me skip another school day to go to that game but it became a moot point. P.S. My mom was from Brooklyn before she moved to L.A. so I have always thought that I would have been allowed to go.
I enjoyed working this challenging puzzle and didn't get the theme at all.
Names names names, you either know the name or you don't, requiring perps rather than reasoning.
I did know: PETER Jennings, MATT Groening, LES Paul, General TSO, Ed ASNER, KEENE, IKE, EDDIE Redmayne, Yogi BERRA (excellently clued!), MEG, FRA Angelico, and Elaine CHAO.
I did not know: OWEN Meany, PAMELA Frank, ILIE Nastase, INES Sastre, Wade WATTS, HAMMER, DIL, Amos Alonzo STAGG, ESTELLA, and RIAN Johnson.
I did know of, but not as clued: Jimmy KIMMEL, and O'NEAL.
Darn good puzzle, though.
Take care, all.
JT, I am embarrassed at the deterioration of my brain. The 1963 World Series with Koufax having two complete games, Drysdale a complete game shutout and Johnny Podres 8 1/3 ... amazing and against the mighty Yankees.
The Arizona Republic has decided not to deliver a paper copy of the newspaper tomorrow in honor of Labor Day. Not sure if the puzzle will be available on their website.
Today’s had me baffled in a few spots. I saw the J M Barrie letters in the circles; I did not see the theme and splitting up of PETER PAN, CAPTAIN HOOK, et al. Thanks CC for the explanation.
BTW, I have a solo puzzle scheduled for tomorrow at Universal Crossword
C-Moe a nice easy one at Universal. I'll have to limerickize or haikuize it in tomorrow's blog!
Was the first SWEEP in '27? Fred MERKEL was a Giant. Famous for a boner
So Boomer pulled a Curt Schilling of Bo-Sox WS heroics. Frozen out of hof for his Right Wing politics
Out of 15 names I knew 4 for sure:ILIE*, ASNER, STAGG and FRA*. KIMMEL and MEG educated guess. INES and RIAN pure WAG.
With three squares pure WAGS I was surebof FIW but…
I got BIOTA, ALKYD and CHAO for FIR.
I think 1927 was first SWEEP. I'm late because we traveled north and picked up a sink the way. I have as many sinks as Brad had proper names.
I was so late I didn't spell out JMB.
Just about to nod out.
WC
*Recent xword clues
Funny typo early on: Captain Cook!
@inanehiker — around the time of stagg, the university of Chicago WAS big-time in football. Founding member of the big ten, 2-time national champion, 12 consensus all-Americans, 7 big ten championships, 11 hall of fame members.
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